Immigration Inbox: News You Can Use • September, 2011 U.S. IMMIGRATION SEYFARTH WORKFORCE AUTHORIZATION TEAM (SWATeam) 1. Improving the Process - Receiving Your Employment Authorization Document (EAD) 2. USCIS Considers Changes to Employment Authorization Policies for TPS Beneficiaries 3. DOS Notifies USCIS of Exhaustion of Employment-Based Visa Numbers for FY2011 4. U.S. Consulate in Mumbai Resumes H and L Visa Processing 5. Prevailing Wage Determinations Update 6. DOL Releases H-2A Employer Filing Tips 7. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and USCIS Announce Initiative To Promote Startups and Spur Job Creation 8. USCIS Publishes CNMI Transitional Worker Final Rule 9. DHS Publishes Regulation To Facilitate Electronic Filing 10. USCIS Institutes Direct E-Mail Communication for Regional Center Applicants 11. USCIS Redesigns Customer Service Center 1-800 Options 12. Obama Administration Announces Focus on High-Risk Cases in Removal Proceedings 13. Consumer Advisory from the American Immigration Lawyers Association: Do Not Be Misled - The Obama Administration’s Immigration Announcement is NOT an Amnesty Program! 14. USCIS Issues Policy Memo on B-2 Extensions for Cohabiting Partners and Other Household Members of Principal Nonimmigrants 15. The International Student Exchange and Visitor Program (SEVP) Updates Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) Instructions, List of Approved Schools 16. USCIS Announces Extension of Deferred Enforced Departure for Liberians 17. Effective October 1, 2011, U.S. Embassies in Copenhagen and Oslo will no longer process immigrant visa (IV) or diversity visa (DV) applications 1. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Declares ‘Secure Communities’ Mandatory, Not Optional 2. DHS Homeland Security Advisory Council’s Task Force on Secure Communities report recommending way ICE may improve the Secure Communities program 3. ICE Revised Immigration Detainer Form I-247, issued in June 2011 4. Social Security Online: Invalid or impossible Social Security numbers 5. House Judiciary Chairman Lamar Smith (R-TX) introduced the Legal Workforce Act of 2011, H.R. 2164, to make E-Verify mandatory for all employers across the country; September 21, 2011 - U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on the Judiciary Approves Bill SEYFARTH IMMIGRATION EVENTS AND NEWS For information on upcoming speaking engagements and events, visit seyfarth.com/ImmigrationEvents. For other news about Seyfarth Shaw, visit seyfarth.com/ImmigrationPress.
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Immigration Inbox: News You Can Use
• September,2011
U.S. IMMIGRATION
SEYFARTH WORKFORCE AUTHORIZATION TEAM (SWATeam)
1. Improving the Process - Receiving Your Employment Authorization Document (EAD)2. USCIS Considers Changes to Employment Authorization Policies for TPS Beneficiaries3. DOS Notifies USCIS of Exhaustion of Employment-Based Visa Numbers for FY2011 4. U.S. Consulate in Mumbai Resumes H and L Visa Processing5. Prevailing Wage Determinations Update6. DOL Releases H-2A Employer Filing Tips7. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and USCIS Announce Initiative To Promote Startups and Spur Job Creation8. USCIS Publishes CNMI Transitional Worker Final Rule9. DHS Publishes Regulation To Facilitate Electronic Filing10. USCIS Institutes Direct E-Mail Communication for Regional Center Applicants11. USCIS Redesigns Customer Service Center 1-800 Options12. Obama Administration Announces Focus on High-Risk Cases in Removal Proceedings13. Consumer Advisory from the American Immigration Lawyers Association: Do Not Be Misled - The Obama Administration’s
Immigration Announcement is NOT an Amnesty Program!14. USCIS Issues Policy Memo on B-2 Extensions for Cohabiting Partners and Other Household Members of Principal
Nonimmigrants15. The International Student Exchange and Visitor Program (SEVP) Updates Student and Exchange Visitor Information System
(SEVIS) Instructions, List of Approved Schools16. USCIS Announces Extension of Deferred Enforced Departure for Liberians17. Effective October 1, 2011, U.S. Embassies in Copenhagen and Oslo will no longer process immigrant visa (IV) or diversity visa
(DV) applications
1. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Declares ‘Secure Communities’ Mandatory, Not Optional 2. DHS Homeland Security Advisory Council’s Task Force on Secure Communities report recommending way ICE may improve the Secure Communities program3. ICE Revised Immigration Detainer Form I-247, issued in June 20114. Social Security Online: Invalid or impossible Social Security numbers5. House Judiciary Chairman Lamar Smith (R-TX) introduced the Legal Workforce Act of 2011, H.R. 2164, to make E-Verify
mandatory for all employers across the country; September 21, 2011 - U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on the Judiciary Approves Bill
SEYFARTH IMMIGRATION EVENTS AND NEWS For information on upcoming speaking engagements and events, visit seyfarth.com/ImmigrationEvents. For other news about Seyfarth Shaw, visit seyfarth.com/ImmigrationPress.
13. Consumer Advisory from the American Immigration Lawyers Association: Do Not Be Misled - The Obama Administration’s Immigration Announcement is NOT an Amnesty Program!
What the new policy is NOT:
The Obama Administration announcement is NOT an amnesty, it is NOT about granting legal status, and is NOT something
that you can sign-up for! The Obama Administration made very clear that the announcements do NOT provide any way to
“apply” for a work permit or “EAD” nor is there a new way to apply to remain in the United States. The change announced
is not about giving people work permits or legal status. The announcement applies ONLY to cases already in the system,
ensuring that low priority cases do not continue to clog up an already overburdened immigration court system.
WARNING!
Do NOT believe anyone who tells you they can sign you up for a work permit (Employment Authorization Document or “EAD”)
or get you legal status based on the Secretary Napolitano’s August 18, 2011 announcement! Anyone who says that is not
to be trusted! There is NO “safe” way to turn yourself in to immigration and there is NO guarantee that your case will be
considered “low priority.” ANY person who comes into contact with immigration authorities may be arrested, detained or even
removed.
Only a QUALIFIED IMMIGRATION LAWYER can evaluate your case and tell your about your rights. Do NOT seek legal
advice from a notario or immigration consultant. For more information about avoiding immigration scams go to www.
parents, provision of emergency services to American citizens, performance of notarial services, and assistance in voting by
absentee ballot in U.S. elections.
You can find President Obama’s memorandum on Deferred Enforced Departure on the White House’s web site, http://www.
whitehouse.gov/
1. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Declares ‘Secure Communities’ Mandatory, Not Optional
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Director John Morton sent a letter on August 5, 2011, to governors
terminating all existing Secure Communities memoranda of agreement “to clarify an issue that has been the subject of
substantial confusion,” which is that “[a memorandum of agreement (MOA)] between ICE and a state is not required to
operate” Secure Communities in that state. In recent months, several state and local jurisdictions had signed MOAs before
participating, and some states subsequently attempted to rescind their MOAs. Noting that participation in the program is
not optional, ICE said that “[o]nce a state or local law enforcement agency voluntarily submits fingerprint data to the federal
government, no agreement with the state is legally necessary for one part of the federal government to share it with another
part.” ICE said it plans to continue expanding the program and hopes to achieve nationwide activation by 2013.
Secure Communities uses an already existing federal information-sharing partnership between ICE and the Federal Bureau
of Investigation (FBI). For decades, local jurisdictions have shared the fingerprints of individuals who are booked into jails
with the FBI to see if they have a criminal record. Under Secure Communities, the FBI automatically sends the fingerprints to
ICE to check against its immigration databases. If these checks reveal that an individual is unlawfully present in the U.S. or
otherwise removable due to a criminal conviction, ICE takes enforcement action, prioritizing the removal of individuals who
present the most significant threats to public safety as determined by the severity of their crime, their criminal history, and
other factors, as well as those who have repeatedly violated immigration laws. ICE noted that “Secure Communities imposes
no new or additional requirements on state and local law enforcement,” and that “the federal government, not the state or
local law enforcement agency, determines what immigration enforcement action, if any, is appropriate.”
An example of the letter sent to governors is available here.
For more information on Secure Communities, click here.
2. DHS Homeland Security Advisory Council’s Task Force on Secure Communities report recommending ways ICE may improve the Secure Communities program. Read the Task Force’s findings and recommendations here.
3. ICE Revised Immigration Detainer Form I-247Issued in June 2011. The form instructs that state and local authorities are not to detain an individual for more than 48 hours,
excluding weekends and holidays, and requires local law enforcement to provide a copy to detainees. Read more about
Secure Communities and Form I-247 here.
4. Social Security Online: Invalid or impossible Social Security numbers
The Social Security Administration advises:
Which Social Security numbers are invalid? An invalid or impossible SSN is one that we never assigned. We have never
assigned an SSN with the first three digits of:
• 000;
• 666; or
• 900 series
Additionally, prior to June 25, 2011, we never assigned an SSN with the first three digits of:
• 000;
• 666;
• Above 772 in the 700 series;
• 800 series; or
• 900 series
We have never assigned an SSN with the second two digits of 00 or the last four digits of 0000.
More information is available here.
5. House Judiciary Chairman Lamar Smith (R-TX) introduced the Legal Workforce Act of 2011, H.R. 2164, to make E-Verify mandatory for all employers across the country; September 21, 2011 - U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on the Judiciary Approves Bill The House Judiciary Committee Approved the Legal Workforce Act (H.R. 2885), a bill that could open up millions of jobs for
unemployed American workers by requiring all U.S. employers to use E-Verify. The bill was reported favorably to the House